The United States on Friday (local time) launched Operation Hawkeye Strike, carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Syria in retaliation for the killing of Americans earlier this month. US President Donald Trump described the action as a “very serious retaliation” against those he called “murderous terrorists.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the strikes were ordered in response to ISIS’s “vicious killing of brave American patriots,” adding that the US was hitting the group’s strongholds in Syria with force. He warned that any terrorist attack or threat against the United States would be met with overwhelming consequences. Trump also said the Syrian government was supportive of the operation and reiterated his view that Syria could have a brighter future if ISIS were eradicated.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth termed the move a “declaration of vengeance,” stressing that it did not amount to the start of a war. “The United States will never hesitate or relent when it comes to defending its people,” he said in a social media statement.
According to a US official quoted by AP, the operation involved F-15 Eagle fighter jets, A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft, and AH-64 Apache helicopters. White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said Trump was delivering on his promise to retaliate for the killings carried out by ISIS in Syria.
Two members of the Iowa National Guard and a US civilian interpreter were killed in a December 13 attack in the Syrian desert, which the Trump administration attributed to the Islamic State group. Following the incident, Trump vowed strong retaliation and noted increased coordination between US forces and Syrian security agencies. He said Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed” by the attack.
The fallen Guardsmen were part of a broader deployment of several hundred US troops stationed in eastern Syria as part of the coalition campaign against ISIS.
